Neurosis, the pioneering purveyors of post-metal, have announced two shows at San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom next year to celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary.
Scheduled for March 4 and 5 of 2016, each night will each feature a different two-hour set spanning the band’s entire career, from debut album Pain of Mind to 2012’s Honor Found in Decay.
Formed in 1985 as a hardcore band in Oakland, Neurosis didn’t stick to the genre for long, adding a synthesizer player (a hardcore “no-no”) in 1991 while simultaneously exploring slower tempos and a wide variety of sonic textures. By their third album Souls at Zero, the band’s sound had changed completely, later termed “post-metal,” a genre sometimes referred to as “thinking man’s metal” for its emphasis on atmosphere rather than speed and technicality.
The band would make a name for itself not just with genre-bending music, but epic live shows featuring dark, psychedelic visuals and long sets varying from drone-filled dirges to heavier, tribal drumming-propelled headbangers.
Opening for Neurosis on the first night is the legendary San Jose stoner-metal band Sleep; on the second night Chicago post-hardcore outfit Shellac, featuring studio legend Steve Albini, kick off the show.
